What is a Guest?

A Guest is a person who makes and/or is responsible for a reservation. They are the primary contact for all communication and the party to whom the booking is invoiced.

Each guest belongs to a single organization. A person who books at multiple organizations would have separate guest records in each. This allows organizations to maintain their own guest database, history, and preferences independently.

Guest records persist beyond individual reservations, enabling organizations to track returning visitors and build a relationship over time.

Core Components

Reservations: A guest can have multiple reservations. Past, current, and future. This history provides insight into booking patterns, preferences, and total value over time.

Contact Information: Guests have contact details including email address, phone number, and physical address. This information is used for communication, invoicing, and verification.

Identification: Depending on the organization's requirements, guests may have identification details on record such as date of birth, nationality, or document numbers. This supports legal requirements and check-in procedures.

Communication History: All emails and messages sent to a guest are tracked, providing a complete communication record across all their reservations.

Guest vs. Guests

A reservation often involves multiple people, but only one is the guest. However, you'll find two properties on the reservation related to the Guest entity: guest and guests

guest is the person responsible for the reservation. The one who made the reservation, receives communication, and is invoiced.

guests (notice the appended "s") are the additional people included in the reservation. Their details may be collected for registration purposes, but the guest remains the primary contact.

Understanding the guest model helps you:

• Manage communication – Know who to contact and how
• Handle returning visitors – Recognize guests across multiple bookings
• Meet compliance requirements – Store required identification and registration data
• Build guest relationships – Track history and preferences over time